TikkTalk at Dagens Næringsliv’s disruption conference

What does disruption mean in Norway? Wednesday 15 March, Norwegian business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv will try to answer the question. Business leaders in Norway, including our own CEO, Gautam, will discuss how new technology displaces old business models.

Picture: DNKonferanse

Disruption in Norway

This week, Dagens Næringsliv is hosting one of its large conferences and the topic is disruption. Disruption isn’t common parlance in Norwegian yet, but is directly translated from English into Norwegian as “disrupsjon”. Regardless, the point is the same: to highlight what new technology and new business models mean for Norwegian businesses.

For startups such as TikkTalk, disruption simply means using new technology to solve old problems. Many service professions are for instance still dominated by old-fashioned methods for organising labour. People, cars, houses and other resources are not being used, even though there are people needing just those resources. And the only reason is that we have no good way of connecting those who can help with those who need help.

That is also the topic for Gautam’s presentation for Dagens Næringsliv’s audience. A lot of people speak more than one language, and a lot of people don’t speak the language they need in a given situation. Why not connect the two groups?

Disruption for interpreters

The interpretation sector in Norway, and beyond, is a very good example of an industry that is organised in an old-fashioned and inefficient manner. Certified and educated interpreters are not used for interpretation assignments for police, hospitals, and other government institutions and private businesses. The certified interpreters are available, but proper mechanisms to connect them with interpretation users have never existed. This is the problem TikkTalk is now trying to solve.

Additionally, all across the world people sometimes need the help of a bilingual in a everyday situations. Just imagine how difficult it is to find your way to a meeting in a city you don’t know, full of people who don’t speak your language, or how tricky it can be to explain to a taxi driver abroad where you are going. The refugee crisis and increased tourism have only increased the number of these simple, yet also difficult, problems.

In these situations, TikkTalk also wants to connect people, here through a simple app. Then those who speak the same language can help each other understand others. That will not only make everyday life easier for many individuals; it will also create a broader understanding that can connect refugees closer to the people in the country they are fleeing to.

This is what disruption is all about: solving problems for individuals and societies as a whole, by using technology to make everyday life easier for everyone. We at TikkTalk think interpretation and communication across the world is ripe for disruption. We hope you agree, and we hope to see you at Dagens Næringsliv’s disruption conference Wednesday 15 March.